Galactus (fictional character)
Galactus is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe, first appearing in the Fantastic Four series. Renowned as the only survivor of a prior universe, Galactus, originally named Galan, underwent a transformation that granted him immense power after the collapse of his home world. To sustain his existence, he requires the energy of entire planets, leading him to initially consume uninhabited ones. However, as suitable planets dwindled, he began to destroy those with sentient life, thereby earning a fearsome reputation across the cosmos. His numerous attempts to consume Earth have led to confrontations with superheroes, particularly the Fantastic Four, who have repeatedly thwarted his plans. Despite a temporary truce with Reed Richards, Galactus's hunger ultimately leads him to attack again. His character embodies themes of survival and the moral implications of power, as he rationalizes his destructive actions based on his perceived superiority as a higher life form. Galactus represents the complexity of villainous figures in comic lore, showcasing both immense power and deep existential struggles.
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Galactus (fictional character)
Galactus is a fictional character who usually appears in Marvel comics. According to Marvel lore, Galactus is the only survivor of the universe that existed before the current one. Though he boarded a ship with many of his compatriots who were hoping to survive the end of their universe, Galactus was the only one to live.
The universe granted Galactus immense strength during his second cycle. He created a powerful starship and began to travel as he waited for life to develop. Galactus soon realized that to maintain his power levels, he needed to consume entire planets. At first, Galactus ate only uninhabited planets, but as the number of suitable uninhabited planets dwindled, Galactus began to feed on planets with sentient life.
Galactus’s need to destroy planets earned him a terrible reputation throughout the galaxy. Eventually, he attacked Earth, determined to absorb the planet’s power, but was repelled by many of Earth’s heroes. Though he attacked the planet repeatedly, each time he was defeated. Eventually, Galactus was slain while attacking the home planet of a particularly intelligent species.
Background
The company that would later become Marvel Comics was founded by Martin Goodman as Timely Comics in 1939, the year it published its first comic book, Marvel Comics #1. The book featured the anti-heroes the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner, both of whom had superhuman powers and abilities that they used to fight crime. Soon after, artist Jack Kirby worked with writer Joe Simon to create the famous character Captain America in 1941.
Timely Comics was initially extremely successful. During the Depression and World War II, people looked to superhero comics as a form of inspiration. The company changed its name to Atlas Comics and continued to publish its work into the 1950s. However, soon after, comic book sales began to drastically decline. After legal troubles, Atlas Comics was liquidated, with many of its properties being transferred to a new company: Marvel Comics.
The first comic book to be labeled Marvel Comics was released in 1961. However, most of its comics were not based on superheroes but instead featured b-movie-style monsters and science fiction storylines. Marvel hoped that such stories would sell better than traditional superhero stories.
However, when DC Comics revived the superhero genre with its Justice League series, Marvel decided to develop new superhero storylines. It created the Fantastic Four, which was a more realistic take on superheroes. The Fantastic Four had flaws, bickered amongst each other and did not have secret identities—all of which made them more relatable to readers.
After the success of the Fantastic Four, Marvel resumed publishing superhero comics. Many of its characters from the 1960s are still used in modern stories such as Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Magneto, and Doctor Doom. Its most successful series of the era was The Amazing Spider-Man. Unlike DC Comics, which had heroes who were paragons of virtue, Marvel’s heroes were often flawed, suffering from self-doubt, anger, depression, and many other problems.
In 2002, the first Spider-Man feature film was released, which began an era of comic books based on Hollywood blockbusters. In 2009, Marvel was purchased by Disney, which continued to produce Marvel comic books, films, and other media.
Overview
Galactus, also known as Galan, is a fictional character that appears in Marvel’s comic book universe. Galactus first appeared in the 48th issue of the Fantastic Four and is the only survivor of the universe that existed before the current one.
In his early life, Galactus lived on the planet Taa, which was a technologically advanced world that provided an easy life for its residents. However, it was also one of the last surviving civilizations in the universe. At that time, the universe was collapsing, and radiation had killed most life on the planet. Galactus wanted the last few survivors to board a spaceship in one last attempt to survive the end of the universe. Though many agreed, Galactus was the only passenger to live through the universe’s collapse.
As the new universe formed, Galactus discovered that he had developed strange powers. While he waited in his starship for life to develop, he quickly became more powerful. After many centuries of incubation, Galactus realized that he would need to destroy planets and consume their energy to maintain himself. He built himself a large, powerful starship, which he named after his home planet, and began searching for planets to destroy.
For many ages, Galactus only destroyed planets lacking life. He remembered his time as a mortal and had sympathy for other intelligent beings. However, over time, Galactus was not able to find enough planets to feed his hunger. He began to feed on planets with inhabitants, justifying it by arguing that he was now a higher life form, so his life was worth more than theirs.
Galactus eventually decided that he would consume Earth, but the Fantastic Four, superheroes who lived on the planet, discovered a weapon capable of harming Galactus. They forced Galactus to promise to spare Earth to save his own life. Despite this, in addition to consuming numerous known worlds, Galactus broke his promise. He attacked Earth repeatedly but was driven off by superheroes each time. During his last attack, Galactus was almost slain, but his life was saved by the superhero Reed Richards. Richards befriended Galactus, who once again swore to avoid consuming Earth in the future. Later, Galactus was slain while attempting to feed on the home planet of an intelligent, technologically advanced species.
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